Alappuzha or Alleppey district in the southern most state of kerala in India is a sandy strip of land with Arabian Sea to its west has a number of lagoons and an array of rivers , canals ,backwaters and lakes which is ideal for a boat cruise. Alappuzha district was formed on 17 th August 1957. Alappuzha district is celebrating its Golden Jubilee (50 years) of formation.

The local language spoken here is Malayalam the mother tongue of the people of Kerala known as keralites or Malayalees
The vembanad lake covering an area of 204 sq kms stretches from Alappuzha to kochi and the Kayamkulam lake covers an area of 59.57 sq kms and extends into Alappuzha and Kollam. The backwater country has been an important trading and commercial center since time immemorial. Today Alappuzha/ Alleppey is well known for its boat races, beaches, marine products,coir, backwaters, house boats and coir and carpet industry.
In the sixth annual international survey of destination stewardship conducted by the National Geographic Society's Center for Sustainable Destinations the results of which appeared in the Nov 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveller magazine, The Backwaters of Kerala has a score of 60 and has been ranked 23 rd in the list of 133 destinations, incidently the Taj had a score of 52

Alappuzha/alleppey district is surrounded by Ernakulam district towards the north, Kollam district towards the south and Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts towards the east.
A view of backwaters in Alappuzha, kerala Photo: Cherian M T